Collapsible tool cabinet



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COLLAPSIBLE TOOL CABINET Oct. 25, 1955 Filed Sept. 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4a 7 O' 3O Lawrence 0. F u/kerson IN VEN TOR.

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Oct. 25, 1955 o. FULKERSON COLLAPSIBLE TOOL CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1952 a m H m; w

United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE TOOL CABINET Lawrence 0. Fulkerson, Owensboro, Ky.

Application September 15, 1952, Serial No.- 309,694

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-255) This invention relates in general to tool cabinets, and more particularly to tool cabinets having collapsible legs.

There are many tradesmen who travel about the country applying their trade and carrying their tools with them in tool cabinets. Inasmuch as it is desired for the cabinets to be properly mounted While working on machinery and the like, the tool cabinets of the tradesmen are normally provided with legs and require time to be set up. The average tool cabinet also has the disadvantage in that there is no proper space for storing the legs therefor and it is necessary that the legs be either separately packaged or stored within the tool cabinet, the storing of the legs in the tool cabinet depriving the tradesman of necessary space for his tools. It is, therefore, desirable to produce a tool cabinet having collapsible legs which may be set up in a matter of a few minutes and at the same time provide proper storage space for the collapsible legs.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved tool cabinet which may be easily and quickly collapsed to occupy a small space.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved tool cabinet which is mounted on a collapsible base, said collapsible base having collapsible legs pivotally connected thereto, the legs being adapted to be enclosed within a tray securable to the underside of the base when in their collapsed positions.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved collapsible tool cabinet, said tool cabinet having detachably secured to the rear side thereof a base for a hinged top, the base being adapted to be stored beneath the cabinet when the cabinet is in its collapsed state.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved base structure for a tool cabinet, said base structure including legs hingedly connected thereto and spaced intermediate their ends by a horizontal tray, said legs being adapted to be folded upwardly within the base and secured therein by the tray.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application'and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the improved collapsible tool cabinet, which is the subject of this invention, and shows the general construction thereof when the legs are in their extended positions;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the tool cabinet of Figure 1 and shows the arrangement of a brace secured to the rear side thereof, the brace being adapted to provide supporting means for a hinged top of the tool cabinet, the hinged top being illustrated in its open position by dotted lines;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of Figure 1 and shows the manner in which a leg is hingedly secured to the base of the tool cabinet;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse'horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 44 of Figure 2 and shows the manner in which a foot is connected to the bottom of one of the legs;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 55 of Figure 2 and shows the manner in which a flange of one of the supporting legs is detachably connected to a downwardly projecting lug on the base whereby it is retained in its extended position;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational View of one corner of the tool cabinet in its collapsed state, the front wall of the cabinet and the tray being broken away and shown in section in order to clearly illustrate the relationship of one of the legs in its folded position and the manner in which the tray is secured to the base when the cabinet is in its collapsed state;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 77 of Figure 2 and shows the general construction of the brace and the manner in which it is detachably connected to the rear side of the tool cabinet;

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane indicated by the section line 8-8 of Figure 2 and shows the relationship of the supporting legs in their folded position with respect to the base and the tray; and

Figure 9 is an end elevational view on a reduced scale of the tool cabinet in its collapsed state and shows the position in which the tray is secured to the base of the tool cabinet.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the different views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated a rectangular tool cabinet, which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 10. The tool cabinet 10 includes a vertically extending front wall 12 which is spaced in parallel relation to a vertically extending rear wall 14, the front wall 12 being connected to the rear wall 14 by transversely extending vertical end walls 16. The walls 12, 14 and 16 are connected together at their lower ends by a base, which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 18, telescoped therein. The base 18 includes a horizontal plate portion plate 20, which forms the bottom of the tool cabinet 10, said plate portion 20 having a downwardly extending frame portion which includes a front flange 22, a rear flange 24 and end flanges 26, the flanges 22, 24 and 26 being secured to the inner sides of their respective walls of the cabinet 10. The tool receiving portion of the cabinet 10 is completed by a top 28 which is hingedly secured to the upper edge of the rear wall 14 by a plurality of conventional hinges 30. The top 28 is secured in its closed position by latch means 32 mounted at the front of the tool cabinet 10.

In order that the tool cabinet 10 may be supported a suitable distance above a supporting surface 34, such as a floor of a building, the base 18 has extending downwardly from the corners thereof a plurality of supporting legs 36. The supporting legs are angular in cross section and have extending therebetween and positioned within their corners a tray 38, the tray being connected to the legs 36 intermediate their ends and providing a suitable brace therefor. The tray 38 includes a base 40 which has projecting upwardly therefrom a front wall 42, a rear wall 44 and end walls 46. The tray 38 is secured to the legs 36 by fasteners 48 passing through the front and rear walls 42 and 44, respectively, of the base 38 and connected to first flanges 50 of the legs 36.

In order that the tool cabinet 10 may be easily moved along the supporting surface 34, each leg 36 is provided with a foot, which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 52. Each foot 52 includes an upper sleeve portion 54 of a triangular cross section and downwardly tapering to accommodate the lower portion of the tapering leg 36 with which it is associated. The lower end of the sleeve 54 is closed by a base 56 which has projecting downwardly therefrom a lug 58 to which is pivotally connected a supporting surface engaging wheel 60. While the lower ends of the supporting legs 36 snugly fit within the sleeves 54 of their respective feet 52, it will beunderstood that the feet 52 may be removed from the supporting legs 36.

Referring now to Figure in particular, it will be seen that each supporting leg 36 is connected to the base 18 by a hinge, which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 62. The hinge 62 has a first hinge leaf 64 which is rigidly connected to the respective supporting leg 36 by rivets 66 passing through a second flange 68 of the supporting leg 36. A second hinge leaf 70 of the hinge 62 is connected to the flange 26 by rivets 72. It will be understood that the hinge leaf 70 is connected to its respective flange 26 adjacent one end thereof whereby the first flange 50 of the respective supporting leg 36 is in coplanar relation with the front flange 22 of the base 18.

In order that the leg 36, illustrated in Figure 5, may be rigidly secured in a supporting position, the front flange 24 of the base 18 is provided with a downwardly extending l-ug 74 adjacent one end thereof. The flange 50 of the respective supporting leg 36 is connected to the lug 74 by a fastener 76 and is prevented from rotating whereby the hinge 62 is temporarily rendered inoperative. The rear flange 24 of the base 18 is provided with similar downwardly projecting lugs 74 to which the first flanges 50 of rear supporting legs 36 are connected by fasteners 76 in the same manner.

When it is desired to collapse the tool cabinet for shipment, the feet 52 are removed from their respective supporting legs 36 and the tray 38 is disconnected. Then the fasteners 76 are removed and the supporting legs 36 folded up within the confines of the base 18, as is best illustrated in Figure 8. After the supporting legs 36 have been folded up within the base 18, the feet 52 are deposited within the tray 38 and the tray 38 is moved up between the downwardly projecting lugs 74 and secured thereto by the fasteners 76. understood that the fasteners 48 which connect the tray 38 to the supporting legs 36 may be also stored within the tray when the tool cabinet 10 is in its collapsed state. As is best illustrated in Figures 6 and 9, the tray 38 completely conceals the supporting legs and gives the tool cabinet 10 a pleasing appearance in its collapsed state.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 7 in particular, it will be seen that removably secured to the rear wall 14 of the tool cabinet 10 is a generally L-shaped supporting bracket 78 of a T-shaped cross section. The supporting bracket 78 includes a vertical leg 80 which abuts the rear wall 14 of the tool cabinet 10, and a rearwardly extending slightly upwardly sloping leg 82. The leg 80 is secured to the rear wall 14 of the tool cabinet 10 by vertically spaced pairs of Z-shaped clip members 84. The clip members of each pair are in spaced relation and secured It will be to the rear wall 14 by fasteners 86. The spacing of the clip members 84 of each pair permits clearance for the stem of T-shaped cross sectional vertical leg and at the same time provides a guideway for the cross arm portion thereof. It will be noted that the cross-arm portion of the vertical leg 80 is tapered so as to provide a jamming fit between the clips 84.

Referring to Figure 2 in particular, it will be seeen that the rearwardly directed leg 82 of the supporting bracket 78 is so positioned that when the top 28 of the tool cabinet 10 is pivoted to a rearwardly extending position, as is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2, the top surface thereof rests upon the supporting bracket 78 and is supported thereby. It will be understood that the top 28 is in the form of a shallow tray and may be utilized for the temporary holding of parts or tools.

When the tool cabinet 10 is in its collapsed state, the supporting bracket 78 is removed from its position on the rear wall 14 and is stored within the tray 38. It will be understood that the tray 38 is of such size whereby there is sufficient space for both the supporting brackets 78 and the feet 52.

In view of the novel manner in which the supporting legs 36 are connected to the base 18, and the manner in which the feet 52, the tray 38 and the supporting bracket 78 are detachably secured, it is readily apparent that the tool cabinet 10 may be collapsed in a very short time.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoing description of the details thereof, taken in connection with the above recited objects and the drawings. Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from the embodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new In a collapsible tool cabinet, a base, lugs carried by said base in depending relation legs adjacent said lugs extending downwardly from said base and forming supporting means therefor, a tray extending between and connected to said legs intermediate their ends, said tray forming a brace for the legs, said legs being movable to positions within said base and retainable therein by said tray, said legs being angular in cross section with said tray received within the confines of said legs, one flange of each leg being hingedly connected to said base, the other flange of each leg being detachably connected to an associated lug, said tray being detachably connected to said lugs when the cabinet is in its collapsed state, said tray forming a storage space beneath said base and said collapsed legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,264,105 McGlauflin Apr. 23, 1918 1,445,395 Harvey Feb. 13, 1923 1,535,682 Platt Apr. 28, 1925 1,966,344 Hallowell July 10, 1934 1,978,310 Johnson Oct. 23, 1934 2,258,364 Maxwell Oct. 7, 1941 2,497,156 Davis Feb. 14, 1950 

